Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) Shares Bought by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG significantly increased its stake in Waters Corporation by 638.5% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 5,708 shares, making its total holdings worth $2,433,000.
• Waters Corporation recently experienced a downgrade from brokerages, with Wells Fargo lowering its rating from "strong-buy" to "hold" and reducing its price target from $420.00 to $330.00.
• Waters reported $661.71 million in revenue for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with a net margin of 22.02% and a year-over-year revenue growth of 3.9%.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its position in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 638.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,602 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Waters were worth $2,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its holdings in Waters by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 100,345 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $36,884,000 after acquiring an additional 9,489 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Waters during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,981,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Waters during the 1st quarter valued at about $315,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Waters by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 28,092 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $10,354,000 after acquiring an additional 3,631 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Waters by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 173,037 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $63,776,000 after acquiring an additional 16,423 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Waters from $374.00 to $352.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Waters from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Waters from $375.00 to $315.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut Waters from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Scotiabank restated a "sector outperform" rating and set a $465.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $378.73.

Waters Trading Down 1.2%

Waters stock traded down $3.31 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $282.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 135,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 604,783. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.05. The stock's fifty day moving average is $331.36 and its 200 day moving average is $353.61. Waters Corporation has a 1-year low of $279.19 and a 1-year high of $423.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.81.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $771.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.96 million. Waters had a return on equity of 41.70% and a net margin of 22.02%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waters Corporation will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.

About Waters

Waters Corporation provides analytical workflow solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through two segments: Waters and TA. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and services high and ultra-performance liquid chromatography, as well as mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and support products, including chromatography columns, other consumable products, and post-warranty service plans.